U.S. imports of Iraqi crude oil have slumped this year to a multi-decade low, EIA data show, as the Strait of Hormuz crisis has choked international shipments from OPEC’s second-largest oil producer.
U.S. imports have markedly dipped since March, to zero in several weeks this summer, after the closure of the Strait of Hormuz forced Iraq to slash its oil production.
Iraq’s main outlet for its crude is through the Strait of Hormuz, while the pipeline north through Kurdistan can only carry about 500,000 barrels per day (bpd) to Turkey. Before the war, Iraq was exporting more than 3 million bpd via the Strait of Hormuz.
On a monthly basis, U.S. oil imports from Iraq plunged from over 10 million barrels in January to as few as 504,000 barrels in June, before rebounding to 1.486 million barrels in July and 1.387 million barrels in August, data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration showed.
The four-week average imports in July and August even showed six consecutive weeks in which the United States did not import any Iraqi oil.
In monthly figures, this summer marked the lowest volumes of U.S. imports of Iraqi oil since 2003, during the Iraq war.
Iraq’s oil shipments have rebounded in recent weeks, although not necessarily to the United States.
Iraq has boosted its crude oil exports via the Turkish Mediterranean port Ceyhan to 500,000 bpd, as OPEC’s second-largest producer has started trucking Basrah crude to the pipeline system to the north.
Crude oil production from Iraq’s southern fields plunged by 70% in the early weeks of the U.S. and Israeli war on Iran, with the average production at 1.3 million bpd, compared with 4.3 million bpd before the war began.
Output has recovered in recent months, with more oil leaving via Ceyhan, as well as the Strait of Hormuz, where Gulf producers brave the chokepoint with shuttle-shipping and ship-to-ship transfers in the Gulf of Oman.
By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com
More Top Reads From Oilprice.com
- Oil Prices Fall as Trump Signals No New Attacks on Iran
- Oil Traders Want U.S. to Release Sanctioned Tankers as Freight Costs Soar
- Nordic Power Prices Could Soar This Winter as Hydropower Reserves Plunge
